Family of 8-year-old pushed by Woodland school lunch aide gets $25,000 in settlement

The family of an 8-year-old Woodland School District 50 student will receive $25,000 as part of a settlement reached following an incident that resulted in felony battery charges against a school lunch aide, records show.

The lunch aide, Peggy Bora, was found guilty of misdemeanor battery but not guilty of the more serious felony battery charges during a bench trial in May. She was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision, 100 hours of public service and court fees.

Bora was removed from duty following the April 1, 2016, incident and recommended for dismissal after the district conducted an investigation, district spokeswoman Carolyn Waller Gordon said in an email. Bora was fired later that month.

The school district does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by the News-Sun. The family has also agreed to not sue over the incident.

The $25,000 settlement will be covered by insurance, and the district will not have to pay a deductible, Gordon said.

The boy told his mother and Woodland Elementary West's principal that he had been in line getting ready to leave the lunchroom when another little boy pushed him, according to the mother's testimony. The boy went to a staff member who didn't provide help at that point, so he returned to the line where the other boy pushed him again.

The boy returned to the staff member who, he said, pushed him and then, when he got up, pushed him again, the mother testified. The boy hit his head when he fell the second time.

The father, who said the boy had told him he had fallen three times and hit his head each time, testified that the lunch aide had yelled in his face that nobody in the room cares about him.

The mother testified that during conversations in the days that followed, her son had said that the lunch aide had threatened and made him feel uncomfortable on other occasions.

Jed Stone, the attorney who represented Bora during the criminal proceedings, described the boy's story as a "tall tale by a troubled child" that resulted in criminal charges that never should have been brought, and taxpayer dollars being spent on a settlement that never should have been paid.

Stone said the incident occurred when two boys got into an argument about who would be first in line, and Bora came to intervene. She "got into his face," their chests bumped, but not in a violent way, and the boy "flopped" to the ground.

Bora shouldn't have gotten into the boy's personal space like she did, Stone said.

"It was an error in judgment, but my god, every error in judgment isn't a crime," he said.

Marisa Schostok, the attorney representing the family, said they would be unable to comment, as the terms of the settlement agreement prevent it.

The boy returned to class, not telling anyone about the incident until the meeting with his mother and the principal several days later, according to court records.

Another mother who had been in the lunchroom at the time had called the school the Monday after the Friday incident to report that she had seen a school employee being physical with a student, Stone said. From there, the school determined the child involved and contacted the parents.

The boy's father said that he took the boy to the hospital on April 6, the same day the boy's mother met with the principal, according to a transcript of his testimony.

According to Gordon, since the incident, Woodland District 50 has continued to provide all staff and substitute teachers online training, including legal training and instruction on appropriate and inappropriate contact with students, and to hold school-level meetings where administrative personnel retrain staff and review expectations.

At Woodland Elementary West, monthly meetings involving supervisory personnel include time dedicated to problem solving and creating positive relationships with students, Gordon said. Social workers and special education supervisors at the school also provide support and recommendations at those meetings.